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Here is an old subject that does not get a lot of attention: Firefighter arson. I found this old article: http://www.state.sc.us/forest/lear.htm . The South Carolina Forestry Commission did research and developed a profile - which the SC police claimed was remarkably accurate.

That was with research done in 1994 and published in 1996. However; new information on the subject is scarce.

Coming off the main road; it is about mile and a half to my house in a rural community. I have lived here over 35 years. In that time there were three fires, in that mile and a half road, that did extensive structural damage. All three houses were owned by volunteer firemen. Donít get me wrong - nobody was charged with a crime and considerable time has passed since the fires. However; it does make me suspicious. I would love to see the national figures on the percentage of firefighter homes damaged by fire - compared to non-firefighter residents.

I donít mean to single out just firefighters. The link I posted starts off with other examples of people, that are supposedly protecting us or our children, going bad or deliberately choosing the profession that gives them maximum exposure to their fixation. I just wanted to open up the subject up to discussion.

I think it would be very hard to get accurate figures on such a thing. Arson is a very difficult crime to solve because the evidence tends to get destroyed. And self-report by the offenders is dang unlikely.

For an in-depth study of a single case of firefighter arson, you might want to read Fire Lover by Joseph Wambaugh.

I think it would be very hard to get accurate figures on such a thing. Arson is a very difficult crime to solve because the evidence tends to get destroyed. And self-report by the offenders is dang unlikely.

For an in-depth study of a single case of firefighter arson, you might want to read Fire Lover by Joseph Wambaugh.

Thank you! I read the first few pages and the epilog on line - it looks like and interesting real life story.

I did not start this thread to single out firefighters. Many firefighters are hard working, good, people that only want to protect the public. As I read in the epilog of Fire Lover; many of the firefighters were the most aggressive investigators.

Whether we are talking about priest, or teachers, or Boy Scout leaders, or football coaches; there will always be a few wolves in sheep clothing. Fortunately we have progressed as a society and we have better tools and communications. Also many people are just more suspicious today.

I saw some tv special. I think it was about a pyromaniac in a fire department in California who kept starting fires. I don't know how they found him out, but the story said people with such disorders often try to join fire departments. Supposedly fire departments around the country are aware of this now and try to screen them out.

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